This week I got to just experiment a little. With some guidance from Charlie on making the compass star by sanding, I was able to prove a concept of putting it in the top of a large bead. There are still some defects, but the technique was applied only to the points of the star and the joints at the center of the star are close to perfect. The rest leaves a lot to be desired, but I know exactly what to do to move forward to get that close to perfect as well. I developed a sanding jig for the pieces that allows me to get within a few thousandths on each piece.
The second piece is just to try texturing and color for myself. I made all of the tools involved and know what improvements have to be made for the texturing to come out closer to perfect as well. The small coves (1/4 inch, 1/8th inch, and 1/16th inch) were made with some cove tools that I made as well. They are easy to use unless you go to deep into the wood at which point one creates near total disaster. The sides of the tool can never touch the wood or the tool goes crazy, and the finish is ruined. Obviously there cannot be any sanding inside these coves. It was just a fun way to try some new things and figure out new techniques.
The second piece is just to try texturing and color for myself. I made all of the tools involved and know what improvements have to be made for the texturing to come out closer to perfect as well. The small coves (1/4 inch, 1/8th inch, and 1/16th inch) were made with some cove tools that I made as well. They are easy to use unless you go to deep into the wood at which point one creates near total disaster. The sides of the tool can never touch the wood or the tool goes crazy, and the finish is ruined. Obviously there cannot be any sanding inside these coves. It was just a fun way to try some new things and figure out new techniques.
